Ju-Chen Chia: The Plant Cell First Author

Ju-Chen Chia, first author of “Loss of OPT3 function decreases phloem copper levels and impairs crosstalk between copper and iron homeostasis and shoot-to-root signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana“

Current Position: Research Associate at Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, USA

Education: Ph.D. in Biochemical Science and Technology & M.S. in Horticulture, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

 

Non-scientific Interests: Reading, knitting and crocheting

Brief bio:

I have always been fascinated by the resilience of plants and how they survive environmental changes. This translates to my research interests and long-term goals: to understand how plants react to stresses and use that knowledge to improve crop performance and achieve agricultural sustainability. During my Ph.D. program under the supervision of Dr. Rong-Huay Juang, I studied how plants cope with heavy metal stress, using Arabidopsis as a model. Continuing my research in metal homeostasis, I joined Dr. Olena K. Vatamaniuk’s group lab at Cornell University as a postdoc to understand the essential role of copper in plant fertility and the network that regulates copper delivery into the reproductive tissues. My research involves various tools like functional genomics, proteomics and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence. I found that SXRF is an excellent imaging system for analyzing the spatial distribution of elements. In collaboration with Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source and National Synchrotron Light Source II, we have developed methods at micro- and nanoscales for using SXRF in plant biology.